Can my landlord show our rental while us still living here?

Question

We have a complicated situation. We live in a duplex, never signed a lease, never gave a security deposit, we pay rent every month and thats that. They were friends of ours. Now we are moving out (we gave over 30 days notice) and we have til the end of the month, but the landlords (him and his daughter) want to show the house while we are still living here. I dont object except for i have pets (which i was allowed). 3 dogs, a cat, 3 ferrets and 3 rats. They want me to take all the animals somwhere every time they show the house, and for us not to be there. I dont think this is fair. I said I would fix any damages made to the house before we leave, clean carpets and paint, (we dont have the money right this moment) and we plan to, but there is no point in doing it now when our animals will still live here and we will have to redo everything again before we leave because of the animals. We can not move into our new house until the 1st, its only the 12th now. What do I do?

Answer 1

Unfortunately you are in a bind.
because there is no executed lease agreement there is no contract to reference.
It is common in lease/rental agreements for there to be a clause stating that the owner or his/her representative can show the place (or even drop by for inspections) with x amount of given notice.

Answer 2

You said your landlord is a friend. And I can tell. He did you a big favor by not having you sign a lease, by not having you pay a security deposit and by letting you keep all of your pets. It'll be hard enough for him to find new tenants, never mind him showing a house filled with as many animals as you have (plus their smells). The least you could do is allow your FRIEND to show the place without you or your pets being there. That's not just the friendly thing to do. It's the right thing to do. He did you a favor, now you should do him a favor. Sure it will be an inconvenience, but it's not just about you. Every month he doesn't have a new tenant will cost him money, which doesn't just affect him, but affects his daughter as well. You need to look at the big picture here.

Answer 3

Unfortunately, yes he can. Even with a lease agreement the LL has the right to show your place after you've given him notice to vacate. I know it's an inconvenience to you with so many animals, if you just had dogs you could take them out for the day, but with dogs, a cat, three ferrets and three rats it's a bit hard to take them out also. If you have friends that are willing to look after the rats and possibly the ferrets until you move I'd look into doing that and just worry about the dogs and the cat.

Your only option is to talk to the Landlord, but remember, he doesn't want it to be empty after you've moved out so he's trying to get it leased before hand so he's not out any money. Also since you don't have a security deposit if you dont' repair the damages then he has to come up with the repair costs out of his own pocket. Talk to him and see if you can't work out some sort of arrangement or advanced notice. They can still show the place if you leave the rats and ferrets but it won't show well and it might freak out potential renters.

Answer 4

In general your landlord needs to give you reasonable notice that they will enter the premises and should work with you to find a time. However, if you haven't been making accommodations for this, they have the right to enter anyway. The whole reason for the notice is so that they can find someone to rent the property as soon as possible after you vacate, so you are costing them money by not allowing them entry. Someone else posted the entire code, however, the pertinent part here is this: "The tenant shall not unreasonably withhold consent to the landlord to enter the dwelling unit from time to time in order to inspect the premises; make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations, or improvements; supply agreed services; or exhibit the dwelling unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers, or contractors." I can understand being concerned about your things and your dog, so I would attempt to be home when the landlord tells you they would like to show it. I don't think they can make you leave while they show it, however it is understandable that they would be concerned that even a small dog could bite them.

Answer 5

They can't ask you to remove the animals for the showing, or remove anything else in the house.

They have to give you a minimum of a 24-hour notice, he can't just barge in.

People that don't know real estate law are under the misguided impression that just because there is no lease, that the landlord has all the rights and the tenant doesn't have any.

A STATUTORY (which means, by law) lease takes over when there is not a written one.

That means you are on a month-to-month tenancy, a 24-hour notice upon entering for any non-emergency reason, a 30-day notice to either ask you to leave or raise the rent, and you must leave the property in good condition and he must keep it in good repair (heat, hot water, refrigerator, stove).

Because he allowed you the pets, he cannot ask you to remove them for the showing, but he CAN give you a 30-day notice to remove the pets entirely, because you don't have a written lease.

Answer 6

well due to the fact that you never signed any paperwork, your landlord has the right to do almost anything he wants, because the duplex is in his name. Under normal circumstances, the landlord can show the home to potential buyers if they give you(the renter ) reasonable notice to clean up or leaveor whatever. It's not really fair for him to ask you to take a bunch of stuff out every time he shows the house, but unfortunately, your rights are really not protected, because you are living there with only his permission and no documentation. It sucks, but the best thing for you to do is just get out of the situation as soon as you can and find a reputable rental where you have some rights.

Answer 7

Well, your landlord can certainly show the premises to future potential tenants, but he can't ask you and your animals to be not present when he is showing. I'm guessing that he fears that a potential tenant might not rent if he sees the small zoo you are operating in there.

Were I that landlord (and had given permission for all those creatures), I'd wait until you vacated to start showings, after I had given it a thorough deodorizing.

Answer 8

what the owner wants and what
the law requires are 2 dif things.

you need not get rid of or hide the
animals.

also, the owner must give you
48 hour written notice if he
wants to show the property!!